A Trip into the Shadows
by wolfgirl892
Summary: After Louis wanders away from his father in Diagon Alley, he finds that some places are definitely more safe than others. One-Shot. Please note that I do not own any of this, all rights belong to J.K. Rowling.


Louis looked, eyes wide, as he took in the scenery around him. He had always wanted to see Diagon Alley, the six year old having heard stories from his older sisters about the bustling alley, and had he begged his father to take him with him on one of his trips to Gringotts. His dad had been apprehensive, saying that it would be boring while he had to do business with the Goblins, but Louis had been persistent. Finally, after hours of begging and a shrug from Fleur, he had relented.

Now they walked down the busy alley, Bill maintaining a secure grip on his son's hand, and Louis couldn't keep the wonder from his face.

"Papa look!" Louis exclaimed, tugging on Bill's hands and pointing excitedly at Eeylops Owl Emporium. "Papa can we get one?" Louis asked, his blue eyes pleading. Bill shook his head however, much to the young boys disappointment.

"Sorry Lou, maybe when you're older." He said, and Louis pouted briefly before being distracted by the other shops. He pointed at the shops that particularly caught his eye, tugging on his dads hand every few seconds and Bill couldn't help but smile at his son's enthusiasm. Louis tugged hard, eyes shining when he saw the ice cream shop.

"Oh papa, can we please get some ice cream? Please, please, please, please, please?" He begged and Bill laughed at his son's childishness.

"Before we leave, I promise." Louis beamed and walked happily beside his father. They continued down the street and Louis's eyes widened as they approached the snow white building that towered over the rest of the shops.

"Papa is that Glingolls?" Bill laughed and shook his head.

"No Lou, it's Gringotts." He corrected. "This is where I work when I'm not on my trips." He explained and Louis looked at the building in awe.

They entered the bank and to Louis's utter astonishment the building was just as magnificent on the inside. He had never seen a goblin in person before, only catching glimpses of them from the daily prophet and now he stared at them in complete astonishment. His father walked straight down the middle aisle and straight up to what Louis figured was a the head Goblin. Bill cleared his throat and the goblin looked at him through narrowed eye.

"Bill Weasley, here to sign some papers." Bill supplied happily and the goblin grumbled in response as he shuffled through the papers stacked on his desk and pulled out a stack to hand to Bill along with a quill. Bill released Louis hands and began reading through and signing the documents.

Louis stayed by his fathers side at first, but the longer he took to go through the papers the less entertained he was beginning to feel. He glanced at the entrance at the far side of the room, his mind remembering all the cool looking shops that they had walked by that he hadn't been able to go in and looking up at his father, who was busy reading through the paper, Louis felt himself edging away. He was sure that his dad would take a while to get through the papers and surely he wouldn't notice if Louis went out for quick moment and came right back, right?

Louis wandered away from his father and towards the exit, his heart beating excitedly as he made his way out into the alley. Where should he go first? He turned right, thinking that there would be even more stores, when another alley caught his eye. Shadows overlapped the alley and Louis couldn't help but to indulge his his curiosity. He was just a boy after all.

Louis walked into the alley, his blue eyes taking in the displays of the shops on the wall. One particularly caught his eye and he tilted his head up as he stared at the display that was filled with what Louis thought were ugly little heads. _Wicked._ Louis thought and he made his way deeper into the alley.

Bill huffed as he finally finished the last of his paperwork, the whole thing taking longer than he would've liked. He handed the papers back to the head goblin, smiling politely as he did, and turned to face his son.

"Sorry bud, now how about we-" He stopped short when he didn't see his son standing where he had left him. He did a total 360, panic coursing through him when he didn't see Louis anywhere, and turned to face the goblin again. "Did you see where my son went?" He asked, the panic clear in his voice. The goblin looked at him again, clearly unhappy that he was being interrupted again, and shook his head.

Bill rushed out of the bank, eyes wide with panic as he scanned the crowd. "Louis?" Bill called out, and he made his way down the street. He would stop would random people who were lingering near the bank entrance, asking them if they had seen a small blonde hair boy wander by, and it was on his third try that someone finally gave him a positive answer.

"Why yes, I do believe I did see him." The old woman said, and Bill looked at her anxiously.

"Did you see where he went?" The woman nodded and pointed towards Knockturn Alley, causing the color to drain from his face. Once he found out he was alright he was going to kill him.

Louis looked nervously around as he walked deeper into the alley. He could swear that the alley was getting darker and he felt a creeping unease building within him. Maybe he should head back, surely his father had noticed his absence. Louis reasoned, but when he turned to head back he froze on the spot. A darkly clad figure stood to the side of the passageway he had just come from and the unease he had felt earlier grew even more. Maybe if he kept going in there would be another exit. He told himself as he hastily turned back around and continued to make his way deeper into the alley.

He walked with a quicker pace as he continued his way deeper into the alley, shying away from any strangers that walked near him and crossing his arms across his chest as goosebumps spread up his arms. Maybe he had been over reacting, maybe he should have just turned around and left. He glanced over his shoulder and immediately dismissed the thought as fear coursed through his body. The same figure which he had seen behind him earlier was walking through the crowd, slowly creeping it's way towards Louis. He quickened his pace, body shaking slightly as he realized that he was being followed. Maybe he was still over reacting, maybe the person following him was friendly and just wanted to help. However he couldn't force himself to turn around. He remembered all the talks his parents had given him and his sisters about talking to strangers when they weren't around and he absolutely refused to take his chances with the figure following him now. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ Louis chanted in his head as he came to a fork in the path and made a right turn. He was seriously kicking himself for leaving the safety of his fathers side and wished more than anything for his father to be there with him right now. _If papa was here he wouldn't be scared._ He told himself, however it didn't give him much comfort. He wasn't his father, that fact was clear now as he suddenly reached a dead end.

Louis froze in place, his eyes searching for any sort of way out that he might of missed, but saw none. He had to turn around, he realized, and slowly, slowly, turned to face the way he came. Sure enough the figure was still there, much to Louis's horror.

_Just walk by him. _Louis told himself. _You'll be fine._ He started back the way he came, keeping his gaze forward and resisted the urge to stare at the stranger. He walked by him, holding his breath as he did, and was nearly fully past him when the figure suddenly reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Louis froze for a brief second, terror coursing through his body, before he reacted. He made to run off, but the man's grip on his shoulder tightened and he reached out to grab a hold of Louis's arm.

"Oi, stay still ya brat." His grip was like iron his arms and Louis teared up at the roughness of it. He tugged harder against the man's grip, kicking furiously at the stranger holding him.

"Let me go!" Louis cried out, delivering a particularly hard kick to the guys knee and the guy hiss from the jab.

"You bloody prat." The man growled and proceeded to grab Louis by the hair on the back causing the young boy to cry out, a few tears leaking out the corner of his eyes.

"Hey!" The struggling duo froze, and Louis stared at the figure approaching them, relief flooding through his body. His father stormed down the dark alley way, wand out and murder in his eyes.

Bill had practically sprinted through the dark alley, peeking through every shop window he could, keeping his eyes peeled for his lost son. His heart beat wildly as he made his way deeper into the alley with no sign of Louis. He had passed a few shady people during his trek through the shadows, they all staring at him as he passed and he pulled out his wand as a precaution. His parents had alway forbade him and his siblings from entering Knockturn Alley and he knew it was for good reason. Knockturn was filled with shady characters, and feared for the safety of his six year old son.

He rounded a corner, praying hard that he had chosen the correct path, where he came across a scene that made his blood boil.

There was his son, clearly terrified, being man-handled by a person that Bill didn't recognize. He made his way towards the pair and when the man suddenly grabbed his son by his hair causing Louis to cry out, he saw red.

"Hey!" He shouted, advancing toward the pair. They both froze at his voice and when Louis looked over his way, a look of relief appearing on his tear stained face.

"Papa!" Louis cried, and Bill glared fiercely at his son's captor, wand pointed out threateningly.

"Let him go!" Bill demanded, aiming his wand steadily at the shady figure, rage evident in his voice. The man had froze, clearly not expecting for someone to come to the rescue, before releasing the hand that had been gripping Louis's hair and immediately reached into his cloaks pocket. Bill saw the handle of a wand starting to appear out of the dark robes and immediately made a move.

"_Petrificus totalus!" _The man almost immediately froze, his hand releasing Louis's arm who immediately made a dash towards his father and clung to his pant legs. Bill kept his eyes on the man, and once he fell over from the spell and Bill was sure that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, he instantly knelt down and wrapped his trembling son in his arms.

Louis buried his face into his father's neck, his arms wrapping around his his dads neck in a tight hug, and trembled horribly as fear and relief flooded through his body. His dad held on to him tightly, kissing the top of his head, rocking him slightly.

"You scared the life out of me." He mumbled into his son's hair. "What on Earth were you thinking?" Louis sniffed again, a few tears dripping out of his eyes and onto Bills dragon leather jacket.

"I'm sorry." Louis mumbled, his body shaking even more. "I just wanted to look around." He cried and Bill rubbed his back in comfort and hugged his son even tighter.

"Just never wander away from me again, alright?" Louis nodded his head and Bill sighed in relief. Standing up, picking up Louis along with him since the boy was still latched onto his neck, he sent one last glare to the currently bound man and began to make his way out of the alley.

Bill managed to make it out of Knockturn Alley fairly quickly, sending a harsh glare to anyone who made direct eye contact with him, and he felt his muscles relax when he finally made it back into Diagon Alley. He made his way through the crowd, fully intent on making it to the Leaky Cauldron so that he and Louis could floo home, when a particular shop caught his eye. He paused, considering briefly if he should head in or not, before making up his mind and jostled Louis lightly to get his attention.

"Hey bud, do you still want some ice cream?" Louis slowly lifted his head, blinking his big blue eyes at his dad. He seemed to think about it briefly and then quickly nodded his head, a small smile appearing on his face and Bill returned the expression. "Well then, lets go see what they've got then." Bill entered the ice cream shop, happy that he and his son were back together.


End file.
